Weaponizing giant killer squid, robotic cockroaches, enough!
And what about the Macedonian Content Farmers? What are we supposed to call them now?
North Macedonian Content Farmers? Could you find a more awkward locution?*
From The Hollywood Reporter, October 1:
'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Negative Buzz Amplified by Russian Trolls, Study Finds
An academic paper finds that half of criticism aimed at director Rian Johnson was politically motivated.
Did Star Wars: The Last Jedi destroy the franchise and permanently rupture the fandom as its critics (melodramatically) have accused it of doing? According to a new academic paper by researcher Morten Bay, the answer is clearly no.
The paper, titled "Weaponizing the Haters: The Last Jedi and the Strategic Politicization of Pop Culture Through Social Media Manipulation," examines the online response to 2017's Last Jedi, a movie that has come to be considered controversial amongst the larger fanbase of the franchise.
Bay suggests that reputation may not be earned, and instead "finds evidence of deliberate, organized political influence measures disguised as fan arguments," as he writes in the paper's abstract. He continues, "The likely objective of these measures is increasing media coverage of the fandom conflict, thereby adding to and further propagating a narrative of widespread discord and dysfunction in American society. Persuading voters of this narrative remains a strategic goal for the U.S. alt-right movement, as well as the Russian Federation."
The paper analyzes in depth the negative online reaction, which is split into three different camps: those with a political agenda, trolls and what Bay calls "real fantagonists," which he defines as genuine Star Wars fans disappointed in the movie. His findings are fascinating; "Overall, 50.9% of those tweeting negatively [about the movie] was likely politically motivated or not even human," he writes, noting that only 21.9% of tweets analyzed about the movie had been negative in the first place.
"A number of these users appear to be Russian trolls," Bay writes of the negative tweets.*WSJ, June 17:
Moreover, he suggests, complaints about Lucasfilm's reported politicization of the franchise by many of the disaffected fans say more about the fans than it does Disney or Lucasfilm's treatment of it. "[S]ince the political and ethical positions presented in the new films are consistent with older films, it is more likely that the polarization of the Trump era has politicized the fans," Bay argues. "The divisive political discourse of the study period and the months leading up to it, has likely primed these fans with a particular type of political messaging that is in direct conflict with the values presented in The Last Jedi."...MORE
Introducing North Macedonia, a European Nation Rebranded
The Atlantic, Oct. 1
Macedonia’s Name Change Wins—But Its Opponents Do Too
It's time for another October Revolution if you ask me.
Time to try, once again, to figure out that whole Julian - Gregorian calendar thing and get the anniversary right this time.